Introduction History of Education

In ancient times, knowledge and education were largely confined to the elite due to prevailing inequalities among human beings. When inequality was eradicated and an era of human equality began, the conditions naturally arose for knowledge and education to extend beyond specific groups and spread to all sections of humanity. This is precisely what happened after the Islamic revolution. Before Islam, the ancient era everywhere was characterized by systems of monarchy. A few individuals enjoyed absolute rulership, while the rest were merely subjects living under their authority. This politically discriminatory system restricted knowledge and education to the elite and rulers, leaving no role for the general population. Islam, in contrast to this authoritarian system, introduced the concept of democratic consultation (Quran, 42:38) and established it in practice. Historians have acknowledged that the downfall of ancient monarchies was made possible through the Islamic revolution. For example, the French historian Henri Pirenne wrote that if Islam had not dismantled the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires, the era of political autocracy might never have ended. It is a historical fact that the collapse of the ancient monarchical system and its replacement with an era of democracy or popular governance only became possible after the Islamic revolution. This revolution had various social outcomes in history, one of which was the elimination of the division between the elite and the common people. Naturally, as a result, the practice of reading and writing